Paul Donnachie, 21, former student at St Andrews University, has lost his appeal at Edinburgh’s High Court of Criminal Appeal against his last year’s conviction for insulting Israel and its flag.

Paul Donnachie was originally charged for attacking Jewish student, Chanan Reitblat, at university hall of residence, desecrated an Israeli flag and called the Lithuanian-born supporter of Israel a “terrorist”.

Chanan Reitblat had claimed that Paul told him: “Israel is a terrorist state, the flag is a terrorist symbol, and you are a terrorist. Israel has no history here.”

Donnachie had argued that his attack was not a personal one against Reitblat, or anti-Semitic, but that it was motivated by his political beliefs, which many Judeo-Christian and Muslim historian share. For example, Britain’s famous journalist and authour, Alan Hart, says: “Israel has no right to exist“.

“The Zionist state which came into being as a consequence of Zionism terrorism and ethnic cleansing had no right to exist and more to the point could have no right to exist unless it was recognized and legitimized by those who were dispossessed of their land and their rights during the creation of the Zionist state. In international law, only the Palestinian could give Israel the legitimacy it craved….”, Alan Hart wrote to David Cameron, British Opposition Leader in 2007.

On Tuesday, Lord Mackay, in his judgement dismissed Donnachie’s appeal, saying: “There was no substantive miscarriage of justice, nor was there an appearance of injustice in last year sentencing“.